Fusee for railroad or other uses.



No. 630,035. Patented Aug. U899.

11. m. CLARK.

FHSEE FOR RAILROAD OR OTHER USES.

(Application med. July 10, 1898.) :"No Model.)

WI-ml E575 E5 5mm. 9%.

.IZJQT QMLK.

UNITED STATES ROBERT M. CLARK, OF NEVV'TON, MASSACHUSETTS.

FUSEE FOR RAILROAD OR OTHER USES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters lPatent No. 630,035, dated August1, 1899.

I Application filed July 10, 1896. Serial No. 598,624. (No modeld To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known thatl, ROBERT l\I.CLARK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fusees forRailroad or other Uses, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming a part of this specification, in explaining its nature.

Fusees for railroad and similar uses have generally consisted of a casecontaining illuminating ingredients or powder and a block inserted inits lower end carrying a metal spike, by which it may be attached to asleeper or other support or stuck into the earth. It is often desirable,however, that the fusee be held by hand instead of being'so attached orsupported, and there is absent from it any means by which this mayreadily be done, the spike not affording any help in this direction, butrather being in the way, and also from the fact that as it is alwaysuncovered it is to some extent a source of danger.

My inventionconsists in providing fusees of this character with aremovable handle, which shall also act as a shield for the spike andfrom which the fusee and attached spike may be readily detached.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a view in elevation of myimprovement. Fig. 2 is also a view in elevation, representing the handleas detached from the fusee. Fig. 3is a view partly in elevation andpartly in section, illustrating the section between the handle and thefusee. Fig. 4 is a view showing a slight modification in theconstruction of the handle, to which reference is hereinafter made. Fig.5 is a view in section upon the dotted line of Fig. 4.

A represents a fusee-case. I3 is the wooden block at its lower end, andO is the metal spike, held by the wooden block and the point 0 of whichis sharpened.

D is the removable handle and spike-protector. It has the handle-sectiond, and its upper end (1 is shaped to receive the outer end I) of thespike-holding block B. The said outer end may be the converse in shapeof the end of the wooden block and may be large must be substantial.

In Fig. 4 I have represented the end of the handle as slotted from itsouter end to the hole e, and the spike-hole d is made somewhat less indiameter than it otherwise would be, the insertion of the spike into thehole then causing the two parts to be slightly separated sufficient toexert a friction thereon. This provides a handle with a means forreceiving spikes, which may vary somewhat in diameter, and also with africtional holding capacity somewhat more reliable and greater than thatobtained by a hole alone. The end of the handle may not be socketed toreceive the end of the wooden block, although I pre fer that it be soshaped.

To use the invention, the spike of the fusee is inserted into the hole(I and the fusee and handle then moved together until the wooden blockat the end of the fusee comes into contact with the end of the handle.The fusee and the handle will then be united with sufficient friction tohold the fusee to the handle, while at the same time the fusee may bereadily detached from the handle in order to expose the spike and permitits use in attaching the fusee to a fixed support. It will be seen,further, that the handle has at its end a cavity for receiving therounded end of the fusee and that this removes the jaws of the holderfrom the strain of the spike, as the rounded end of the fusee is wellseated in the said cavity.

It will be understood that these fusees are quite heavy and thatthesupport for the same It will also be seen that the handle acts toprotect and cover the spike when it is not used as a handle and in thisway preserves it from being accidentally bent, so that the spike isalways in a condition to attach the fusee to a sleeper or other support.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States 1. The combination of a fusee forrailroad and otheruseshavinga rounded lower end and a metal spike heldby said end and projecting therefrom, with a removable combined coverfor said end and spike and handle having a long handle portion and atone end the cover and jaw comprising a cavity in the end for thereception of the rounded end of the fusee, and aspike-receiving holeextending "from the inner end of said cavity, all as and for thepurposes set forth.

2. Acombined cover and handle for a railroad or similar fusee having arounded end and'aspikc, made of wood, fashioned to provide agrasping-section for the hand and having one end provided with a cavityfor receiving and holding the rounded end of the fusee, and aspike-receiving hole extending from said cavity of smaller size than thesize of the spike, and slits extending from said hole to the outer sideof the handle.

ROBERT M. CLARK.

Witnesses:

F. F. RAYMOND, 2d, J. M. DOLAN.

